Compile Slides

2. Check for known problem patterns

# Check for unclosed \textcolor or \textbf
grep -n 'textcolor{[^}]*}{[^}]*$' FILENAME.qmd
# Check for ## before raw \begin{frame}
grep -B1 -n 'begin{frame}\[fragile\]' FILENAME.qmd
# Count pgfplots (warn if >3)
grep -c 'begin{axis}' FILENAME.qmd

3. Fix common issues before compile

• Unclosed \textcolor{X}{\textbf{text:} rest → add } at end
• \textbf{\textcolor{X}{text → add }} at end
• ## Title before \begin{frame}[fragile] → remove the ## Title
• \newcommand{\source} in YAML header-includes → remove (converter defines it)

Compilation

Single file

cd Lectures/slides
python3 convert_qmd3.py FILENAME.qmd --output-dir pdf_out

All files

cd Lectures/slides
for f in *.qmd; do
  echo "=== $f ==="
  python3 convert_qmd3.py "$f" --output-dir pdf_out
done

If compilation hangs (>60 seconds)

• Almost always a pgfplots issue
• Check .tex in output dir for \begin{axis} blocks
• Replace with simple TikZ or remove
• Never use more than 2-3 pgfplots per lecture

Post-Compilation

Report for each file:

• OK/FAILED
• Page count (~40 content pages for 90-min lecture; discount \pause-only pages and figure/table-only slides)
• Overfull hbox count
• Any errors from log

Citation Verification (MANDATORY post-compile check)

After successful compilation, verify that all syllabus-required citations appear:

# For each lecture topic, check that required author surnames appear in the .qmd
# Lecture 01 (Foundations): Fearon, Blattman, Miguel
# Lecture 02 (Greed/Grievance): Collier, Hoeffler, Esteban, Ray, Dincecco, Tilly
# Lecture 03 (Economic Shocks): Miguel, Dube, Vargas, Hsiang, Berman, Couttenier, McGuirk, Burke

grep -c "AUTHOR_SURNAME" FILENAME.qmd

If any required citation is missing → flag as FAIL and list missing citations. This is a strict rule: every syllabus-listed paper for the lecture topic MUST appear.

Smart Page-Length & Time Assessment (post-compile)

After successful compilation, estimate total lecture time:

# Count raw PDF pages
PAGES=$(pdfinfo pdf_out/FILENAME.pdf | grep Pages | awk '{print $2}')

# Count pause overlays (each adds ~1 extra PDF page)
PAUSES=$(grep -c '\\pause' FILENAME.qmd)

# Count content slides (## headings = unique content slides)
CONTENT_SLIDES=$(grep -c '^## ' FILENAME.qmd)

# Count figure/table-only slides (~0.5 weight)
# These are slides where content between ## headings is only \includegraphics, \begin{tabular}, or TikZ
FIG_TABLE=$(grep -c 'includegraphics\|begin{tabular}\|begin{tikzpicture}\|begin{axis}' FILENAME.qmd)

# Count interactive slides with time estimates
# Match patterns like "(8 min)", "<!-- time: 10min -->", "(5 minutes)"
grep -oP '(\d+)\s*min' FILENAME.qmd | awk '{sum+=$1} END {print sum+0}'

Time estimation formula:

• Regular content slides: ~2 min each
• Figure/table-only slides: ~1.5 min each
• Interactive slides (quiz/exercise/discussion): use explicit time tag (required by constraint #13)
• Total = (content_slides × 2) + (fig_table_slides × 1.5) + sum(explicit_time_tags)
• Compare against target: 90 min for standard lecture

Report format:

Estimated lecture time: ~82 min / 90 min target
  Content slides: 28 × 2 min = 56 min
  Figure/table slides: 6 × 1.5 min = 9 min
  Interactive (explicit): 3 slides = 17 min
  Assessment: Good fit for 90-min slot

If estimated time exceeds 100 min: warn "Lecture may run over — consider cutting ~N slides" If estimated time is below 60 min: warn "Lecture may be thin — consider adding depth or exercises"

USG Beamer Setup (converter reference)

The converter preamble provides:

• Metropolis theme, 16:9 aspect ratio
• Colors: usgblue, usgred, usggray, highlight
• Commands: \source{}, \takeaway{}
• TikZ styles: dagnode, dagobs, dagunobs, dagarrow
• Packages: tikz, booktabs, amsmath, amssymb, graphicx, pgfplots

Critical Rules

1. Brace balance is non-negotiable — check before every compile
2. pgfplots causes hangs — limit usage, prefer simple TikZ
3. Read rules/converter_rules.md for full list of known issues
4. Use --output-dir to avoid permission errors on existing PDFs
5. The .tex file is saved to output dir — use it for debugging